Gabrielle, Titan, chapter 4
by VP19
Summary: Seramus puts off battle to find his titan bride; Gabrielle becomes a village heroine, but Xena breaks up with her; the alchemists go to sell their giant gold nuggets and confront Xena; Gabrielle notices a small change.


**GABRIELLE, TITAN  
**  
Chapter 4  


  
"Quick!" Moclanus told Corocles. "Put those nuggets in a wheelbarrow and let's get out of here. Time is of the essence."  
  
"But why, sir?" the alchemist's young assistant asked.  
  
"Don't you remember? The effects of liquid purple ambrosia only last for a few days. We have to leave before Seramus reverts to his original size, dooming his dreams of creating a race of titans. And we also have to sell these gold nuggets for a healthy price before they shrink."  
  
Several minutes later, as the two finished lugging the huge nuggets into a wheelbarrow, the towering Seramus returned with his troops. "Is something wrong, sir?" Moclanus asked, staring at the gigantic warlord.  
  
"I have decided to put off the attack of the village until tomorrow, believing that at this imposing stature, there is no way the villagers can defend themselves." Seramus smiled. "Today, I want to find my future mate, so tonight I can make love to her and begin creating a race of titans as soon as possible. Which way did she go? Which way did she go?"  
  
"I believe she went that way," the alchemist said, pointing away from the village and waving past the other end of the lake.  
  
"Thank you, sir," Seramus said, making a semblance of a bow. "Troops, follow me as I search for my titan queen," and he walked away from Moclanus' house, his mighty boots making colossal prints, where many of his soldiers stumbled upon the muddy lake shore.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Corocles said to Moclanus a few minutes later in an unnecessary whisper; the troops were now some distance away. "It gives us time. Let us head to the village, where we can at least have a day of safety and sell those nuggets as well."  
  
"What if Gabrielle finds us there, and somehow discovers we were the ones who made her so big?"  
  
"I hate to say it, but after what Seramus became a titan, we're necessarily on her side now. And soon, she won't be so big."  
  
* * *  
  
With the warlord's army not reported anywhere in sight by sentries, the day became rather routine for the villagers--routine, except for the presence of their enormous guest. While Xena and Tramelus began preparing strategies and deployment of villagers, Gabrielle used her titanic strength to repair roofs, corral stray livestock and even help build a stone house in a matter of hours.  
  
"You are amazing," an elderly woman said after Gabrielle had fixed a leaky roof in her house. The villagers were no longer afraid of the huge woman in their midst; in fact, children walked up to her and touched her gigantic boots.  
  
"It was nothing, really," Gabrielle told the old woman while blushing. "I am glad to be of help."  
  
"We are proud of you," said Tramelus, who had just finished a strategy meeting with Xena. He walked over to Gabrielle and kissed the back of her mammoth hand. "You were a wonderful young woman the first time I met you, and while your size has been altered, your natural goodness hasn't. I loved you then. I love you now."   
  
_Yeah, right,_ Gabrielle thought as she envisioned the ludicrous picture. Intimacy with a man the size of an infant. He might make a nice titan, though...  
  
Xena concurred. "I, for one, am very impressed with the Colossus of Potidaea. Oh, if they could see you now!" The villagers cheered.  
  
"You like me, you really like me!" Gabrielle said exultingly, standing up to her full 20-cubit height. Villagers strained their necks upward to see her beaming face.  
  
* * *  
  
That evening, Gabrielle tried to catch sleep while Xena and Tramelus alternated as night watch on the tavern roof.  
  
"I'm nervous, Xena," Gabrielle said while sitting down, hands folded in front of her knees.  
  
"You've been in battles before."  
  
"But not like this, with the strength of a score of men. And you know how I feel about killing. At this scale, I'm afraid I could do so accidentally."  
  
"Put your hand out here," Xena said, and Gabrielle complied. Xena began stroking her companion's huge fingers slowly and tenderly. "Your nature is not like that, Gabrielle. I suppose in your eyes, we must look like living wooden dolls." The Warrior Princess smiled. "And just as I'm sure you took good care of your dolls when you were a child, so will you take good care of us human dolls, even the bad ones on the warlord's side."  
  
"I will try, Xena, I will try."  
  
"Good. Now fall asleep. It's important you get your rest. That's what I'm going to do when Tramelus takes over."  
  
* * *  
  
Xena was roused from sleep with a powerful punch to the right side of her face. She opened her eyes and found the sunlight streaming in; hadn't she closed the shutters when she had retired? Then she looked, holding her throbbing cheek. The shutters had been shattered by a huge fist withdrawing from the window.  
  
"Gabrielle!" Xena screamed in pain, leaving her bed and walking to the window, where she saw her titan companion finishing a yawn.  
  
"Oh, hi, Xena. Good morning," Gabrielle said.  
  
"Great way to start the morning! You nearly broke my jaw with your huge fist, you big clumsy oaf. And look what you did to the shutters--they're ruined."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Tramelus, who had been up for some time, walked over to Xena. "I just talked with some of my fellow villagers, and we've now decided to unleash Gabrielle as a secret weapon, hiding her behind the tavern until she can strike at Seramus and cause him to tremble."  
  
"That's not what we had planned."  
  
"Everyone here loves Gabrielle. In fact, one farmer said if we survive this, he will feed her for as long as she wants. We don't want to see her hurt."  
  
"Why are you giving Gabrielle such special treatment?" a miffed Xena replied. "Is it because you love her?"  
  
"We are not giving her special treatment, but let's face it, what village has ever had a titan working on its behalf? People will come from all over to see the mighty Gabrielle, especially after we build her a home worthy of a titan. And remember, in terms of raw strength, five of you does not quite equal one of her."  
  
"This is getting absurd. One day of helping and you're ready to immortalize her?" Xena threw up her hands in disgust, though at the instant she raised her arms, she felt a throbbing pain in her jaw. "That's it for me. You wanted my expertise, my fighting ability, but I've been shunted aside in favor of a blown-up blonde bard."  
  
"I'm no blown-up blonde whatever!" said Gabrielle, peering down at her partner. "So you're leaving? That's not the Xena I know."  
  
"Well, you're not the Gabrielle I know!" Xena retorted. "I have faith in your newly enhanced skills and am confident you will lead these villagers to victory. As for me, I can best be of service somewhere else." With that, she walked over to Argo, untied and mounted her and prepared to leave the village.  
  
"Don't you dare, Xena," said Gabrielle, standing erect and taking a few gigantic strides toward the horse-riding Warrior Princess. But Xena was able to pick up speed, and Tramelus told Gabrielle to let her old friend go on her way.  
  
* * *  
  
While on horseback, well away from the village, Xena raced past two men coming toward her carrying a wheelbarrow, its contents covered in straw. However, Argo inadvertently collided with the edge of the wheelbarrow, and it fell to the side, revealing six enormous gold nuggets.  
  
"Those are extremely big," Xena said as she helped the men recover the nuggets. "About five or six times larger than the biggest gold pieces I have ever seen." She raised the older man by his collar. "I'm guessing you had something to do with my not-so-little friend Gabrielle, or should I say ex-friend!"  
  
"It's true," he answered. "We made her bigger through liquid purple ambrosia."   
  
"Why?"  
  
"We were working for Seramus," he said. "My name is Moclanus and I am an alchemist. We thought that making Gabrielle bigger would cause dissension between you two, and alas, I apparently was right."  
  
"What do you mean, alas?" Xena said, loosening her grip on Moclanus.  
  
"We made Gabrielle our unwitting subject to see if it would work, and then we planned to give it to Seramus' troops."  
  
"Did you?"  
  
"No. Once Seramus learned a young woman had been transformed to titan size, he decided to use it on himself in hopes he could mate with her and create a race of titans."  
  
Xena smiled perversely. "I don't see Gabrielle as a willing titan bride."  
  
"I don't see it either, for another reason," Corocles interjected. "The effects of the liquid purple ambrosia are only temporary, a few days at most. Soon, Gabrielle will return to her diminutive state."  
  
"And when did Seramus take the ambrosia?"  
  
"Actually, you immerse yourself in water affected by it," Moclanus said. "He did it yesterday."  
  
"That means Gabrielle should shrink back a day before Seramus," Corocles said. "I don't think he'll like losing his titan bride."  
  
"And that means I've got to go back to help her before it's too late," Xena said.  
  
"If you want to help her, I could let you use the ambrosia and reach titan size," the alchemist said. "You're already a mighty warrior now--imagine yourself at that scale!"  
  
"I won't do it."  
  
"What?" an incredulous Corocles said.  
  
"There's a battle inside me between darkness and light--the darkness of my ruthless warlord days and the light of what I am now," Xena stated. "I live in fear that were I to become a god, or titan, or anything more than my mortal self, my dark side will reemerge, fed by the temptation of my enhanced powers. As much as I would like to, I cannot risk being turned over to darkness."  
  
"I respect your sincerity, Xena," Moclanus said, "but you've seen firsthand the power of a titan."  
  
"Felt it, too," Xena said, rubbing her still-aching jaw.  
  
"While it is possible we could outwit a titan at our scale, we could use a warrior at titan size to neutralize Seramus. If not you, who?"  
  
Xena smiled. "I have an idea."  
  
"Then let me take you to my house," Moclanus said. "Corocles, you continue to the village with the gold."  
  
* * *  
  
Gabrielle hid behind the tavern, though she couldn't move very much without being spotted. "It sounds as if the Seramus battalion is coming through the forest," a sentry cried. Then Gabrielle heard a gasp from the village troops, and peeked around the side of the tavern to see what was going on.  
  
There on the outskirts of the other end of the village were the Seramus troops, all right--with a titan-sized Seramus leading them into battle.  
  
_So I am not the only one,_ she thought.  
  
"I could not find my future bride, the beautiful young woman who is now a titan," he announced to the villagers. "But I will capture this village, and it will impress her so that we will marry and breed a race of titans who will lead for generations to come."  
  
_I'd sooner marry Joxer,_ Gabrielle thought, seething at the warlord's hubris. Then she looked at the tavern building. It seemed somewhat larger than she had remembered it a short time ago. And she also felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach.   
  



End file.
